Florida State will name Oregon’s Willie Taggart as next head coach

As the ink is still drying on Jimbo Fisher’s monster 10-year, $75 million contract with Texas A&M, his previous school found his replacement in Tallahassee.

Oregon head coach Willie Taggart agreed to terms to become Florida State Seminoles’ next head football coach, according to Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman.

SOURCES: #Oregon’s Willie Taggart will become the next head coach at #FSU. Here’s my story on @SInow: https://t.co/Lltn3X6JLw

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 5, 2017

The 41-year-old coach posted a 7-5 record in his first season with the Ducks.

Taggart, a former running backs coach at Stanford under Jim Harbaugh, helped turn around programs at Western Kentucky and South Florida in his first two head coaching jobs. The Bradenton, Fla., native led South Florida to a 10-2 record and top-25 finish in 2016 before accepting the Oregon job.

Though the Seminoles are guaranteed to finish with fewer than eight wins for the first time since Bobby Bowden’s final season in 2009, Taggart inherits the most talented roster of his career. From 2014 to 2017, Fisher’s recruiting classes did not finish outside the top-six nationally.

Taggart is the program’s first external hire since tabbing Bowden out of West Virginia in 1975.